Otherworld
by Shinsei01
Summary: In a world full of bloodthirsty fiends will Suki unravel the truth to her family's assasination?
1. Huntress

Chapter 1 – Huntress

Stepping through the cool grass Suki kneels to look at an impression in the soil, finding that it had the distinct markings of a boot of a wary passerby. Judging from the next steps impression with the crushed grass and strewn pebbles around it. She touches the ground, it's neatly packed at the toe and not so much at the heel, he must've been in somewhat of a hurry to get there and he knew where he was going. She gazes in the direction of the stranger's path, her eyes wandering to a tree off in the distance near a brook in the midst of the massive field surrounded by woods on either side. "That must be it." She says to herself. In a somewhat elusive thought she transforms into her small red fox form, walking on towards the stranger through the tall grasses.

Once she is in leaping distance of the stranger she finds him asleep, leaning against the tree for support. She sniffs the air for the smell of blood and finds none. Most likely because he was healing himself as he slept for his clothes were somewhat ragged with stab marks. She pounces him for the fun of it and he catches her in midair with a swift movement of his arm. He tosses her gently and sits up while she lands, his fangs shimmering as he smiles. "And who might you be?" he asks.  
"I'm Suki. What's your name?"  
"My name's Legat, so you want to fight do you?" he asks. Suki smiles impishly in her vulpine form. Legat thinks to himself just how strong a little red fox can be and charges at her. Suki remains sitting until he's close enough and bites his leg. "I didn't need that leg anyways. Now let go please." Suki lets go and takes a playful defensive stance with her tail wagging. "Hmm, well then…" he says as he unsheathes a sword and jabs it into the ground, sitting behind it afterwards. Suki's eyes gleam for a moment and she stands attentively in front of him. Legat remains sitting on the ground and Suki takes the time to groom her left forepaw, finding a seed and pulling it out of her fur. "Well, this is an interesting fight. Here puppy?" he says. She walks up to him and drops the seed into his hand. Legat pets her on the head. She backs off slightly to sit back in front of him, channeling her energy into the seed that has now grown into a rose vine, loosely wrapping itself around him and lightly pricking his skin with its thorns.  
"Hmm, this can't be good but look at the nice roses."  
Suki licks the blade of his sword and the vines constrict even further as her tongue bleeds while Legat remains seated on the ground, letting the blood slowly trickle downwards. He pulls out a small blade and, in a moment, is free of the vines; blood dripping from his body. Suki moves aside and casts a foxfire spell at him.  
"I always liked it hot," he says before casting a rain shower to save his hair. Suki transforms to her halfbreed form: her body that of a human but her fangs, claws, fox tail and ears still remaining, clothed in one of her favorite fighting outfits, the aqua color of her shirt accentuates the redness of her shoulder length hair. She unsheathes her dual scythes and takes a loose defensive stance.  
"Careful, you could put someone's eye out," Legat says mockingly and she lightly smacks him in the jaw with the handle of a scythe. "That's… that's not fair," he says before grabbing the slightly bloody sword from the ground. Taking a full swing to stop about a centimeter from her neck, gently scraping it with the blade. Clearly surprised by the maneuver Suki remains still, taking the bite of his sword along her neck. Legat remains motionless, looking into the eyes of his foe. Winking, he slashes a tear on her cheek and watches as a single drop of blood falls down her face. Suki leaps backwards to sheathe her scythes for a katana with a jade hilt.

"Jade is kind of fancy for you isn't it?" he taunts. She leaps over him and lets her sword fly, cutting his back from the shoulder blade to his lower back and charges yet again. Only to be parried by his own sword.  
"Damn that was a good coat and shirt," Legat says as he kneels with his sword in the ground, a slight look of pain on his face that disappears as quickly as it had come. Slowly he gets up and readies for another attack.  
Suki takes the opening to attack him with her sword, flipping to his side and parrying as he counters. Pulling at the metallic string that had found its way around his neck in the maneuver. Causing it to tighten and dig deep into his skin. Legat pulls out a small dagger and cuts the metallic string along with some of the flesh on the left side of his neck. Then lunges towards his attacker to place the dagger in her thigh, grabbing his sword afterward and watching attentively. Suki pulls the dagger from her thigh and quickly throws it into the calf muscle of her opponent, and takes a defensive stance. He grabs the blade lodged in his leg and rips it out with a reckless shudder as blood is spewed into the air, and places the dagger back into its sheath. Afterwards he quickly rips his already torn shirt into a small ribbon and wraps it around the wounded leg. Hobbling forward with his blade drawn, eyes glaring with pain, anger, and hope.  
Suki lets out a long sigh to calm down and loosens her stance a bit, her cold emerald eyes starring into his challenging glare. Thrusting her strength into a flesh searing blow, she renders his right shoulder nearly useless.  
"Ha! Good thing I'm left handed… Oh shit, no I'm not," Legat says. Gathering as much energy as he can, he runs at full speed, tapping the heel of his boot to release a blade from the toe and thrusts the toe of the boot into Suki's ribs. Following with a slice to her lower chest, blood gathering together like metal to a magnet to form a small lake at the feet of the combatants.  
Suki's head swims, she unsheathes her daggers and lets them fly, landing a direct hit to his left hand and thigh. Legat slowly gathers himself and staggers to get away. Looking over his shoulder quickly while using his sword as a cane, catching a glimpse of the once innocent red fox. Suki charges ferociously at him, pauses and Legat forcefully jabs his sword into his lower right side to pierce Suki in the middle of her stomach. She coughs up blood and falls to her knees, her eyes gleaming for a moment before turning to a shimmering gold color, her face now baring demon markings along her jaw as well as her arms. Pulling the sword out of her stomach she skewers his right leg and foot with it.  
Legat lays in the puddle of blood wondering what brought this on and if this is the end of it all, "No.. No it can't be.. It can't," he says to himself. Looking slowly around at the darkening sky to his 'enemy' if that's truly what they were… just looking for something to hold onto.  
Suki transforms into her true demon form, her fox form, and walks up to him within hands reach, licking the blood off of his fingers. He makes out a slight smile, barely enough to be recognized as one. She licks a wound on his wrist and it heals mostly, only a scar remaining and looks to him for a moment before returning to healing his wounds.  
"You put up a good fight."  
"I just wanted to have some fun," he replies. When she finishes the minor cuts she stands beside him and closes her eyes, channeling her demon energy into him to heal the remaining wounds.  
With a smile he flashes his fangs, "There's no need for that but thank you."  
Suki smiles, "Oh I know, but it's the thought that counts, right?"  
"Sometimes… Sometimes it's the thought that gets in the way."  
She nods slightly, "Very true." After a few minutes of sitting in silence she jumps into his arms and sniffs his neck, biting it and lapping up the spoils.  
"Ah, the biting of the neck is such common a thing for me," he says.  
"Yes, as it is for most demons," she replies, nipping at the wound on his neck, causing it to bleed more.  
Legat closes his eyes and heals the wound; Suki remains sitting in his arms, resting her muzzle on his shoulder. He picks up his sword from its resting place on the ground, sheaths it, and whispers to the fox, "Hey, I think you owe me a new shirt and coat."  
She smiles, her fangs showing, "I do don't I?"

"Well if you would…"  
She briefly licks his chin in a canine gesture of apology and a knapsack appears at his feet with the requested clothing. "See if they fit."  
He cuts off the ruined shirt and coat because it would've taken too much an effort to take them off normally, seeing that it's scraps of fabric anyways and opens the sack.  
"Um, they're pink…"  
She laughs, "The little imps must've changed it."  
"Sure, you just wanted me to try it on. You know it."

She swats him in the face with a paw, "Sure… Believe what you'd like."  
"I will."

Suki hops onto the ground next to the bag and pulls out the garments – a pink shirt and coat with a matching kimono at the bottom. "Now that's not funny but I do like the patterns on the kimono. And pink is definitely not my color."  
"Well then what's with it?" he asks.  
"I'm sure my sister has something to do with this joke.. Her and her little minions."

"I'll manage without them. I can just make what I need later," he says.  
She jumps onto his shoulder and sits.  
"What's this all about, hmm?"  
"Oh, I smell a crystal and I might share it with you if you don't mind helping me slay the behemoth." After a few moments of silence she asks, "We going or not?"  
"Yes."

She sniffs the air, "Ooh and a tonberry too. They can be tough little buggers but their flesh is the best around."  
"Indeed," he replies with a grin.  
"Shall we hunt?" Suki asks before hopping off his shoulder and dashing off through the thickets, leaving him behind. Seeing no point in answering he whispers, "Yes."  
Suki pauses when she smells the scent of the tonberry even more so than before, her tail curling around her right flank, ready to spring at any moment. Legat thinks to himself, "Mmm tonberry."  
Suki licks her mouth and pounces, grabbing the lantern and its weapon in the same leap. Legat walks up behind the defenseless monster and taps it on the shoulder. "Sorry," he says before grabbing the tonberry's knife from Suki and thrusting it through its head. Suki pounces the still writhing tonberry and licks the blood from the knife wound, biting the flesh and enjoying the fresh treat. Legat watches nearby smiling at her small feast. She pauses to turn and talk to him and the tonberry moves, she kicks it with a hind foot and it goes limp.  
"Do you want some?"  
"It's dead and I don't drink from the dead," he replies.  
"Oh, right…" She trots into a field nearby, "Lets get the crystal then."  
"Lets," he replies and then says, "Lead the way."


	2. Treasure Trove

Chapter 2 – Treasure Hunt

Traveling many miles through the woods with Legat following loosely behind Suki slows her pace to a brisk walk and wags her tail, "This is going to be fun."  
"Indeed it is. So what's so special about this behemoth? You said a crystal right?"  
"Yep."  
"So you get the crystal… What do I get?"  
"You get whatever is in its hoard."

"Sounds okay. Lets go then," he says as he motions for her to lead the way with his hand.  
Suki peers into the cave and quietly trots across its floor, spotting the monster a couple yards from the back of the cavern sleeping amongst a pile of forgotten treasure. Legat walks in so silently she isn't sure he is touching the ground. Legat walks up to the sleeping monster and whispers, "Lets wake it up so we can have some fun," he says before he flashes his fangs and sinks them into the beast's neck, waiting for it to wake with rage, and backs to Suki afterwards. "Mmm, now lets have some fun shall we?"  
She laughs, "Lets enjoy it while it lasts," and bites the behemoth's tail and runs up its back to bite its neck. Legat draws two blades, a dagger and a sword, runs under the belly of the best while it's distracted and stabs the front right leg of the monster with the dagger and slices the back left leg with his sword, listening with joy as the behemoth wails in pain. Suki gouges the behemoth's right eye out with her claws and deftly trots back across its neck to its back and bites away.

Watching as a group of imps swoop from the ceiling, Legat catches one by its leg. With his free hand he stabs it through the throat, slicing anther imp's wing above it in the process. Suki pounces from one imp to another as they fly, mauling them as she goes. Legat removes the sword from the imp by cutting half of its neck, then looking at the behemoth, charges at its mouth, slides, and thrusts upward to place the blade in it's jaw. Letting the fresh blood trickle down this throat. Suki continues to pounce the imps as if they were stepping-stones as Legat pulls out a barbed chain from around his waist and watches the imps fall. Any imp that fell with life's energy in it, died before it hit the floor from a swift whip of the chain. Suki lands next to the monster and bites at the behemoth's neck, lapping up the coppery sweetness. Legat latches a hooked blade onto the chain and launches it into the behemoth's good eye, to have it quickly enter and slowly rip out the eye, dangling. The behemoth scatters around in a blind rage; attacking anything within its grasp.  
Suki runs for the crystal in the behemoth's current absence from its hoard. The behemoth turns and starts charging straight for her and Legat runs as fast as he can to grab his chain and swing it around the behemoth's neck. Pulling himself to the creature's head, raises his sword, and lunges it into the beast's brain. Jumping as the massive creature crashes down at her heels, Suki ignores the felling of the beast and grabs the crystal from the top of the hoard. At first, there's a dark blue glow from the crystal as she holds it in her mouth. Then she goes limp where she stood, dropping the crystal. Moments later she shakes herself and stretches, picking up the dropped crystal and trotting to Legat with her tail wagging and says, "Finally I have it."  
"Congrats."  
"It was a tad bit stronger than anticipated but I absorbed the energy from it soon enough," she explains before putting the crystal in a small pouch around her neck to add to her collection.  
"You have quite the collection," he says and pulls a crystal from the base of his dagger and hands it over, "A gift."

She takes it and adds it to her pouch, "Thanks."

"Wondering why you didn't notice it before?"  
"Actually I am… Why didn't I?"  
"Well, lets just say there's things about me you don't know," he replies before walking behind a pillar in the cave and emerging from the other side of it fully clothed. "So what now? And these fit and look much better don't you think?" he asks while gesturing at his new clothing.  
Suki nods, "Well, seeing that we've had our fill of chaos for the moment I say we head for the nearest town and get some information." She walks around him and admires the clothing, "A very nice fit."  
"Why thank you. I 'made' it myself. So where is the nearest town?" he asks.  
"Lets see… Well, the nearest town would be a little past Stones Crossing and south of Brackenwood Forest. I think it's called Duern."  
"Fine with me."  
Suki sits at Legat's feet, still in her vulpine form, and looks to the mound of weapons and the sort in the hoard, "Are you going to get anything from that mess?"  
He looks over everything quickly and reaches deep into the pile, slipping something into his pocket, "Okay, I'm ready… wait --" and grabs a set of throwing knives. "Okay, now I am."  
She laughs lightly, "Alright, lets go then." And trots on out of the cave, leading the way to Duern with Legat following slowly behind.  
When they make it to Stones Crossing they find themselves amongst a pack of sand golems. "Ooh. Haven't seen those in a while."  
"They don't look like somethin' to eat to me, so…" he says while looking annoyed.  
Suki laughs, "No, they aren't but I've heard that this may be the only surviving pack in the Otherworld, but I do see your point. So lets move on."  
"Well, shouldn't we let them join the others?" he asks.

She thinks for a moment and flatly states, "No."  
"Fine then." And glares harshly at her, "Lets keep going if we must…"  
Suki's ears flatten as she walks onward and her tail twitches in an annoyed manner. He glances at her with a concerned look on his face, "You look sleepy. Should we make camp here? It's not like we'll get much information at this time anyways, would we?  
She pauses and turns to him, "No, we wouldn't." and knaws on a bleached femur bone of an imp.  
"Then that's it, we make camp here?"  
"Sure."  
Legat gathers some firewood together and makes a fire after a few failed attempts. Laying down next to the fire with his head on a log, starring at his fox comrade, "Good night. See you tomorrow?"  
Suki lies down and curls her tail around her, the white tip touching her nose. "Yeah, see you then."

In the morning she stretches her little vulpine body before transforming into her halfbreed form.  
"Aww isn't that cute," he says.  
She smiles and sits on a nearby stump, drinking some water from a canister. Legat stretches his body with a yawn and sighs afterwards, "So what now? Do we head for town?"

"Yeah, sounds good to me. There won't be anything good to feed on until then and I'm hungry."  
Legat gathers his belongings and makes way towards town looking to see if she's ready to go. Suki packs her things and nods afterwards. Leading the way once again.  
"We're off to see the…" he sings, mumbling off toward the end on noticing how annoying that song is. Suki laughs lightly and shakes her head.  
"I'm… I'm sorry." he apologizes.

"Just try not to make it a habit."

"Oh I know I don't even know why I did it. I hate that song and the movie was awful."  
Suki plays with one of her crystals in her left hand as she walks. While Legat sharpens his newly found throwing knives, "Shiny." And looks at his reflection in the blade. Suki thinks about absorbing the crystal energy from the crystal but decides not to. Legat keeps walking while looking at the newly sharpened blades. Suki watches a gryphon soar the skies ahead of them. Legat thinks for a second, looks at the gryphon and the gryphon looks back with a knowing gaze. He pulls out his chain and whips it around the gryphon's leg and grabs Suki by the waist, the gryphon flying toward Duern.  
"Nice plan but how do you know it's going to stay on this path?"  
"Trust me," he says while glancing into the gryphon's eyes.  
"I'll take your word for it then."

Legat pulls himself and Suki up onto the back of the gryphon. She sits on the gryphon's back and enjoys the ride, unsheathing her scythes and sharpening them. Seeing the town below the gryphon glides lower almost knowingly. As it passes over a rooftop Legat jumps off to slide down the slope of a roof and jump onto another. Suki quickly sheaths her scythes and follows suit, "This place hasn't changed much."  
"It has since I was last here. All but a few buildings."  
"I see," she replies, her stomach growling in the silence. "Heh, it seems as if my stomach is already a step ahead of me."  
"Well I have some 'years old' business to take care of so I must be going. But I'll be sure to meet up with you later," and he slowly starts walking into the shadows. "Bye for now, and don't eat too much." And facing away from her he gives her a sly grin.  
Suki laughs, "Oh I'll try not to. I'll see you later then." She walks on down the alleyway, her tail wagging in anticipation of her meal.


	3. Withered Rose

Chapter 3 - Withered Rose

Legat hobbles into a pub, blood racing in a steady stream down his right arm, only to find Suki stuffing her face with food. Suki chews on a rib and after seeing him out of the corner of her eye, she waves, and hops off the barstool to walk over to him with a concerned look.

"Don't worry, I'll live. It's just a minor setback… anyways it was well deserved." He says before looking to an open table and motioning an invite to Suki as he walks toward it. Suki follows him and Legat sits carefully. He then looks across the table as she sits, "So you found anything out or have you been eating the whole time?" He says with a slight chuckle and a grin.  
Suki smiles, "Oh, I found enough out to start another blood war and had some fun while I was at it… Mostly torturing a neko family. But then I decided to come here and finish my appetite."  
"War you say – hmm," Legat says, his eyes gleaming with interest.

Suki picks a bone from between her teeth with a claw and smiles afterwards, "Yes the Kitsune and Dragoon clans may be at it again from what I've heard."  
"Sounds like it could be fun."  
"Yeah… and hearing that some assassinations have already taken place, it's not going to be too long before it begins."  
"So what do you plan to do with this information?"  
Suki stares into midair in thought for a moment and focuses back on Legat. "I'm not quite sure yet. I suppose I'll figure that out as I go."  
"So what's known about the assassin?"

Suki stretches and peers around the room noticing more than a few eavesdroppers. Pointing out a particular demon with her elbow as she stretches. "Well, he sure has an attitude to say one thing but give me a second and I'll pay for my meal and we'll be out of here." She walks up to the front and pays for her meal; the tip of her tail wagging in an annoyed manner before walking back to Legat. "Let's go."  
"Ok.," He replies and follows her tail through the crowd as she exits the pub and walks across the street into an alleyway, jumping onto a low building and sitting on a balcony. When she sees him enter the alleyway, Suki gestures with her hand for Legat to come on up. He jumps up with a bit of confusion and Suki smiles at his unstated question.  
"I can hear everything below us better from up here."  
He looks around at the emptiness, "If you say so…"

"Besides, I'm really not up for fighting at the moment, I'm stuffed." After a moment of silence she sighs and says, "Well, the thing is I've heard some news about that slithering worm of an assassin. He killed my older brother, Josiah and I'm not too pleased to hear he's looking for me as well."  
Legat looks around, "So you want revenge?" Suki nods, growling softly. "Well any idea as to where or who he might be, and would you like some company if you're going to go after him?"  
Suki grins at the last question. "I'd enjoy having the company. As for where this guy is, he was last seen in the Kyokusha area, a couple weeks traveling from my homestead, and he uses the alias of Kado mostly."  
"Well, is that where you're headed? And when do WE leave?" He says while looking judgingly into her eyes. Her fangs shine in the dim light of the evening as she smiles.  
"Yep, we leave as soon as you get that wound fixed up a bit more." Legat puts his good hand to the wound; the light of the town and everything around it fades for a brief second as if everyone blinked at the same time. Before he lowers his hand a dark glow remains over the wound as it heals.

"So how are we getting there?"  
"By foot for a while and quite possibly with the aid of a winged friend after that, so I estimate we'll be there in three days at most if we keep up a good pace."

"A winged friend you say?" he asks with a sly look on his face just waiting to hear what kind of 'winged friend' it could be.  
"It's an Amdusias, a cousin to the Pegasus."  
"Hmm, well that's interesting. I wasn't thinking it would be that." Suki runs her thumb over the hilt of her sword subconsciously.  
"You ready to go?" He takes a step, then staggers. "Whoa! Wasn't expecting it to take that much out of me," he says while looking about in a dizzy mess. She laughs lightly and quickly grasps his shoulder before he falls off the balcony.  
"You need to rest a bit or at least let me transfer some energy to you because you look awful."  
"I'll be fine. I just need a few hours rest." He gathers his balance, "You can go ahead if you wish, I'll catch up later."

"Na, I couldn't leave you behind like that but I will hunt for you if you'd like for the time being. This place is crawling with yummy morsels."

"That would be very kind of you but you don't have to go out of your way." He says as he starts looking for a place to sleep, walking past building after building as if he's trying to remember something. He finally stops at a run down house with the gate locked. He slices the lock and chain, then makes his way inside. Softly whispering memories to his self as he walks. Suki pauses at the gate's entrance and follows him into the building.  
"I find it crucial you remain at your finest lest the mission prove itself uneventful." Suki says as she stands in the entryway. Legat remains in his dreamlike state and continues his walk through the house to pause abruptly at the middle of the living room away from a table with a withered rose on it. Suki notices this and quietly makes her way towards the table to take a look at the rose and picks it up gently, reviving it with her touch. "Its such a lovely flower—" she says before the firm grip of Legat's hand finds her shoulder.  
"Put it down… Put it down," he whispers in a pained yet commanding voice.

Suki's ears lower slightly and she returns the rose to its resting place on the table. Its petals withering back as they were before.

"I'm so sorry. I—"

Legat sighs and removes his hand from her shoulder to comb it through his unruly hair. "You didn't know but it's the rose I gave my lover the week before she passed away—She was so beautiful…" he says before laughing, "I'm dreaming again."

Suki smiles with an uneasy look on her face, "You really should get some rest." She says before walking towards the door, "I'll be back in a bit," and exits. Pausing at the gate's entrance to sigh and whispers, "I didn't mean to revive such a sad memory… I'm sorry." And continues walking towards the outskirts of town. Legat remains standing where he was minutes earlier, grinning slightly at her words and nods, his smile leaving as quickly as it came.


	4. Enmity

Chapter 4 – Enmity

From the outskirts of town Suki finds herself drawn into the depths of the surrounding forest. Transforming to her small red fox form she continues to follow her instincts and stops on the bank of a lake with various sizes of boulders strewn into its midst. Reminding her of the meditation gardens back home. Suki laps up the cool water and lets her eyes wander the ripples to the reflection of the full moon and smiles, understanding why her instincts had taken her to this place. She leaps from one boulder to the next, unaware of her small audience hidden amongst the undergrowth, and sits when she lands on the boulder at the center of the lake.

Legat and his wolf companion watch Suki as she sits on the boulder and closes her eyes. Her ears drooping and the reflection of the moonlight on the water growing brighter than before, ripples emanating from the stone as she absorbs the moonlight and refines her energy. When she's finished, Suki's eyes open. Her pupils glowing with the same golden color they were when she sparred with Legat in her half-breed form, and her fur a slivery white. Unable to suppress her demon instinct much further she casts a massive solar flare spell to a nearby boulder, the water hissing as the rock melts into nothingness. Afterwards Suki leaps effortlessly from the boulder at the center of the lake to the bank, sprinting into the brush and attacking an unfortunate beast. Mauling and casting spells until it's only recognizable by a few remaining bones, her fur untainted by the blood except for her muzzle that drips with it.

Legat sits looking at and petting his wolf friend, seeing only lightning like flashes from behind him. Turning to see what all the commotion is all about he takes a look, "All that for an overkill?" Suki trots over to the two growling with her teeth bared in her odd mood, circling them and snapping all the while. "Simmer!" Legat says. She merely stops in front of him to growl even deeper, her eyes staring into his own with an utmost desire to kill him, her tail twitching in an aggravated manner. Legat turns his back with a grunt, walking off with his wolven friend towards town.  
Suki rushes to attack them but in the midst of the run she stops abruptly, skidding on the debris on the ground. Her ears twitching to the east before she turns in that direction and quickly yet quietly running toward an unseen foe. Legat listens to the direction she runs and follows her indirectly with his wolf friend at his side.  
Suki continues to chase her opponent, strafing to her left as a shuriken flies through the air in front of her, scoring a sapling tree instead. She finds that they're headed for a small town and mentally takes note of the area as she chases her challenger down the hill. As she chases her opponent into the outskirts of the town she casts a quick volley of firaga spells and manages to singe her opponent. But as she turns a corner in the alley she's surprised by a knock to the head with the flat of a broadsword and falls to the ground with a shrill whine, blood tainting her forehead. Carefully she stands, her opponent chuckling all the while as Legat stands in the shadows watching, seeing how she handles herself and waits for an indication that she might need his assistance.

Suki snaps at her opponent before attacking and lets the sparks fly as the thundaga spell is cast. Circling her opponent she attacks him from the side with her fangs, ripping a good portion of his right arm. He counters by backhanding her onto the ground with his good hand but she lands nicely on all fours, charging him again to slice his calf muscle with her claws while being careful of his blade. Legat watches intently like a horror movie, waiting to jump. The oppressor attacks Suki with his sword in a steady arc toward the ground as she quickly runs around him before attacking as he predicted. She jumps vertically into the air and lands on the flat of the blade; running to her opponent and casting a devastating flare spell, which causes him to stagger backwards.

Suki takes the moment to attack him but it seems he anticipated the thought and thrusts a dagger into her side. She winces as the blade finds her side but continues to maul her opponent. Legat jumps from the shadows of the rooftops, his blade shimmering in the moonlight before finding the forehead of the mauled man, pulls out a knife and throws it into the shadows of the alley to hear a yelp. He watches as his changed comrade tears at the flesh of the dead as if she had to eat it before someone else did, looking around greedily to see if she needs to fend for her new feast.  
"Hungry?"  
Suki looks up to Legat, grinning while swallowing a bite of meat before speaking, "You bet," and returns to feed on the carcass.  
Legat pulls the blade from the head of the foe, licks the blood off the blade and shudders, "Cold," and rolls his eyes in disappointment.

Suki licks her mouth as she finishes and laughs, "The meat is much better."  
"Why did his blood cool so quickly?" Legat asks before a cold shiver up his spine urges him to look in the direction of the draft to find a woman with blue lips, icy eyes and white hair standing on the street there. "Well…" he says as he unsheathes his sword in his right hand and a dagger in his left, "Trust me get her," he whispers as he begins a charge. Suki swiftly follows suit at his side, her eyes gleaming. Legat glances sideways, winks, and slashes with both weapons to have his sword dodged by the icy maiden. The dagger on the other hand slices her ribs. She grasps her side as blood drips, freezing in midair and shattering as they hit the ground, her wound now sealed with a thin sheet of ice.

Suki casts a solar flare spell, Legat chants quickly, and then motions at the maiden with his hands, casting a black flame with heat and ferocity unseen and unheard of by man, joining with the solar flare spell to create a reaction, turns and grabs his friend. To run and dive behind a building to hear a large explosion and watches as black and orange flames shoot everywhere, making the town look like day.

Suki grins, "Good show."

"It was but that won't be the last we see of her kind I bet," grins then frowns soon after. Suki looks to the blasted area and nods. "Have you met any like her before?" he asks.

"It has been a few decades… It's very odd to see them in a place like this, very very odd."

"Well I might have something to do with that… They like to track me—of course I let them usually."  
She laughs, "I see."  
"Yeah, me and their master are umm… lets say old friends."

Suki's ears twitch at the last part of the statement, "Really now?" Legat waves his hand dismissing her comment.  
"You done for the night or are you still hungry? Because you seem to be slowin' down."

She looks to Legat, "I'm finished. It's just that I need to sleep off the remainder of my wounds. Which should only take five minutes at the most."  
Legat chuckles. "Ok ok…" and whispers knowing that she'll hear it, "Show off," and then winks.


	5. Conversant

Chapter 5 - Conversant

Looking at her current surroundings, Suki notices that they're already halfway to Kyokusha. She yawns and pauses to stretch herself, looking to Legat afterwards.

"Do you know the way to Kyokusha? Because that bout earlier really took it out of me."

"Umm, that way?" he guesses and doesn't point or gesture in any way.  
Suki sighs, "I guess you don't know then do you? Well, it's a little ways north of Bedlam. You do know where that is don't you?"

"Umm…" he says before looking around in a panic, "That way," this time pointing in a random direction that to his luck, ends up to be right. He combs his hand through his hair, "Ok here's how it goes, I'll carry you and you tell me where to go. It can't be that far."

Suki laughs at his sheer luck, "That'll do for part of the way."

"I'm sure you can sleep like that, I'm very agile," Legat says before letting out a howl and his wolf companion rushes to his side from the woods.

Suki smiles and reverts from her white fox form to her red one. "And who is this?"

"A friend I've known since I was 'younger.' Trust me, she'll come in handy… Well now that she's here we won't have to walk," he says as he watches the wolf change into its wolf-demon form, standing five feet tall at her shoulder. Legat jumps onto her back, "You coming?" and holds his hand out to Suki. She nods and jumps into his arms. The wolf starts running off with the two friends on her back, Legat's arm moving with the wolf's running to keep it a smooth ride for the fox to sleep.

Just as she said earlier, five minutes later and Suki's awake, refreshed from her nap.

"Are you sure you're not part cat?" Legat asks.

She laughs, "I'm sure."

"Ok, for a second there I thought I would have to explain that to you," he says while laughing and smiles warmly. Suki smiles and watches the surrounding scenery pass as they travel. Legat yawns before pulling a drink from his inside coat pocket, "Thirsty?" he asks before taking a drink.  
"Yeah, I'd like some," she replies and Legat cups a hand and pours some into it for her.

Suki laps the drink from his hand, "Thanks."

"No problem," he says as he puts it back in his coat pocket. "How long do you think it will take 'cause I think I might take a nap as well?"

"Oh, at this pace we'll be there in a good twelve hours but that's only if we don't have any more distractions." Legat stretches and yawns before dozing off.

Waking from his nap with a stretch he yawns, "We there yet?"

Suki looks to the city, it's lights glowing brightly in the distance. "We're nearly there. Only a few hours left."

"Hours?" Legat says in a whiney childish voice.

She looks up to Legat and bops him playfully in the jaw with her muzzle, "Yes hours…"

"Fine."

Suki thinks for a few minutes while watching the scenery pass and then looks back to Legat with a slight smile, her eyes asking a million questions of him. He grins slightly and the looks to the side and starts to laugh. Suki thinks a bit more, recalling the house they visited before… its very walls holding a history untold. And shifts her weight in his grasp, laying her head on his arm as she thinks things through. Legat tightens his grip to let her know she's safe, smiles at her, then opens his mouth to speak and with a slight delay says, "What do we do when we get there?"

Suki's right ear swivels to his voice before she turns her head to look at him as she casts her wandering thoughts aside and back to the present, "We should act as we normally would while visiting but still keep an eye out for anything suspicious. As for where we'll be staying, there's an abandoned church on the eastern side of town that'll work out nicely."

"You've stayed there before?"

She nods, "I've lived there a few months in my travels."

"Umm," he says while looking all shy like, "I don't really do churches."

Suki smiles and turns her head to the side slightly in question, "And why not?"

"It's a long story but lets just say my death. Yes my death, as in I died so lets just leave it at that."

Suki's smile fades, "That's understandable."

Legat looks at her in a puzzled manner, "That's not near the normal response I get when I tell people I've died. Although I haven't told many… Thank you," he says before grinning his childish but evil grin.

Sighing slightly while smiling Suki stretches a leg that had fallen asleep from sitting still too long, " You're welcome. I'm not surprised too much of you because I've met a few people such as yourself over the few centuries I've lived… I just haven't had much of a chance to befriend anyone until now because of the clan trials I had to go through."

"People such as myself? What kind of person is that?" pausing for a moment he continues, "And also what of this clan you speak of?" he asks with a hateful cheer.

Her ears swivel somewhat at his questions but her emerald eyes still remain fixed upon his own before replying in a steady tone, "I'm not exactly sure what you call yourselves but your abilities and character match—such as your ability to conjure the ancient darkness spells as you did earlier as well as the vampire like moods," she laughs at herself and continues, "well most demons have that but your kind have it unequally so…"

Legat thinks for a moment and says to himself, 'Yes, I'll let her think that for now. It's too much bother to let her think otherwise and I'm not in the mood to talk about it… Who knows how she would act if she knew.' "So what of this 'clan'?"

"Well as a Kitsune I'm born into a clan and work my way up the ranks through various trails of sorts to prove myself in a way that shows the elders that I'm more than a kit fox with some talent."

"Hmm, interesting. So what kind of ranking are you?"

She smiles while still watching the scenery go by, "I've been credited the title of scouting seeress for the Nanki troop… Nothing too fancy," she replies and sighs before laying her head back on Legat's arm.

Legat looks to see where they are only to notice that they're right outside of town and his wolf-demon companion is slowing down. He clutches Suki in his arms and flips off the wolf to the ground. Suki listens as a few people walk the streets, their voices muffled by the wind and hops out of Legat's arms to investigate. She looks around the nearest building to find an empty street with many small shops and an apartment, following the voices to a shed nearby she hides behind a bush. Legat watches Suki and falls behind and waits in the shadows. Suki watches as the two men bicker about a lost item and looses interest, turning around and quietly trotting back to Legat

"It's nothing."


End file.
